Always put away baby's toys at night

As I was nursing my little one tonight, my mind was wandering. I was thinking about trying to solve the problem of steamed plums that came out too tart while at the same time, surveying Emme's bedroom floor and seeing all her little toys scattered outside of her toy bucket. As I looked, I remembered that a fellow mom had been to my house for a Christmas party and told me her Trick: Always put away Baby's Toys at night. She then proceeded to put all of Emme's toys in her little toy bin. At the time, I replied, "Oh don't bother, they will only all be pulled out tomorrow!" She tried to explain to me that it was a good habit to start as it sticks with your children as they get older (her daughter is now almost 3), but I just laughed and chased her out of the room. It was a party after all :)

I will admit that I am not the tidiest person in the world and I am not going to be a hypocrite and start demanding this of my child. Not that Emme is even old enough to "clean up" anyway, being only 9 months, but I don't think that was really the point. Instead of being open to her idea, my reaction was defensive. Another Mom suggested I do things differently, and I felt that maybe I was doing things wrong. But then sitting there nursing and looking at the scattered toys, I thought back to the Toys comment and let it sink in that it is a great habit to get Emme into! It would only take a minute or two to load the blocks and various little toys into her toy bin, and maybe I can build habits in Emme that could carry over to me as well. Not to mention that it is never too early to start thinking about how to make my life easier in the future! A neat child can only be a blessing :)
So starting tomorrow, I am going to put the toys rule into effect. Who knows, maybe a few months from now, I'll be able to blag (blog brag) about what a neat and tidy child I have!

This may seem like a silly trick to start this blog with, but it really defines what I am trying to accomplish. It seems like every time I hang out with another mom, I pick up some useful piece of advice that I hadn't thought of before. I too have come up with a couple tips over these last 9 months that I wouldn't mind consolidating in one place. With this blog, I can be reminded of the advice that I found especially valuable and post it as a reference for myself and all my friends who will undoubtedly follow with babies soon!

Oh, and after a little internet research, I decided to add Agave syrup to my batch of steamed plums to tame the sour edge, as several sites said it was safe for babies. I usually use grape juice but I didn't have any on hand. I just happened to have some Agave Syrup and I wasn't ready to break out the white sugar just yet. I think Emme is still a little too young!